ZELIENOPLE — Tempers flared Thursday morning at the Zelienople-Harmony Chamber of Commerce board meeting as members discussed the recent resignation of executive director Meg Kessler.

Kessler, who did not attend the meeting, headed the organization for 18 months before abruptly resigning in April. Her husband, Bill, also resigned from the chamber board at that time.

Although she couldn’t divulge publicly the details behind her departure, Kessler said there were “irreconcilable differences” between her and the chamber board and added that she pushed for change and was met with resistance.

At the board meeting Thursday, rank-and-file members of the chamber like Kevin Lenz questioned the chamber’s leadership on Kessler’s departure.

Lenz said he left a different chamber years ago because of an atmosphere he described as too “cliquey,” and suggested that he’s starting to feel that same attitude in the Zelienople-Harmony chamber.

He also questioned the chamber’s relationship with the Zelienople Business Association, an organization that automatically receives 10 percent of all dues paid by chamber members, regardless of the location of their business.

Lenz suggested that Kessler felt there was favoritism in the chamber leadership toward Zelienople businesses and that board directors resisted her efforts to implement change.

“(Kessler) felt that the Zelienople Business Association monopolized the chamber,” Lenz said. “She wanted to adjust that but hit a brick wall. I can’t help but feel that other people don’t feel the same way.”

Lenz said he might not renew his membership.

Board member Mac McCrory discussed Kessler’s resignation after Lenz spoke.

He said the board never asked for Kessler’s resignation. Rather, Kessler presented the board with an “ultimatum” and said she’d resign if her demands weren’t met.

“Then I said you either resign or we’ll fire you,” McCrory said. “You work for us. We don’t work for you. You’re trying to tell us how to run the chamber, and that’s not going to happen.”

An e-mail sent from Bill Kessler last month to chamber members offered a different perspective on the resignation and outlined his wife’s stance on issues and how they conflicted with board members.

Among those issues, according to Bill Kessler, was that his wife felt no “business or special interest groups” should have more than one representative on the board.

That wasn’t the case, Kessler continued, with three Zelienople Business Association officers and two Zelienople association board members on the chamber board.

Bill Kessler also said his wife felt the chamber board demonstrated “resistance to, or no interest in, supporting other organizations that are trying to promote economic growth.”

Those organizations, according to Bill Kessler, include the Harmony Business Association, boroughs and Jackson Township.

Later in the meeting, chamber member Neal Jackson tried to shoot down the suggestion that there was any favoritism toward certain businesses on the board.

He said the Zelienople association is a subsidiary of and acts as the “promotional wing” of the chamber. Furthermore, he added, every member of the chamber is automatically a member of the Zelienople association, even if a member’s business isn’t in Zelienople.

Still, at least one member wasn’t convinced that the chamber had his best interests in mind.

“It says that this is the Zelienople-Harmony Area Chamber of Commerce,” said Dave Strawbridge, who owns Fox’s Pizza in Harmony. “It feels like it’s just the Zelienople Chamber of Commerce.”

The chamber board did not vote for a replacement for Bill Kessler on the board. One of the directors said a chamber member had been asked to fill the seat but declined.

Mary Anne Kristophel, president of the board, offered no timeline on when a new executive director could be hired.

Throughout the discord and disagreements, board member Joey Hamilton said it was “truly a shame” to see Kessler resign, adding that she was “going in the right direction” in terms of steering the chamber.

“If you think that wasn’t disappointing and a blow to us, you’re wrong,” she said.